June 28, 2021
ISLAMABAD: The mountaineering princess of Pakistan, 12-year-old Selena Khawaja, accompanied by her father Yousaf Khawaja, 61, is all set to attempt Broad Peak, a mountain in the Karakoram on the border of Pakistan and China, the twelfth-highest mountain in the world at 8,047 metres (26,401 ft) above sea level. If successful, it will make her set new world records -- making her the youngest person in the world to have summated an 8000ner.
Selena Khawaja, a young girl living in a small suburb of Abbottabad has been living with a single parent and somehow developed love for mountains and along with her father Yousaf Khawaja started climbing at the age of 6. While deservingly Selena deserves lots of accolades, as the mountaineering princess, her father, Yousaf Khawaja also merits equal if not more respect for being the force behind her achievements. By the time she was 10 she had already climbed a number of mountains with varying heights. Some of the peaks climbed during 2018 in Shimshal Pamir, Pakistan include Quz Sar 5,765m, Mingling Sar 6,050m, Wilyo Sar 6,150m, and Spantik Peak 7,027m in District Shigar, in 2019.